Today's Guides want a badge in safe sex

But in the 21st century, Girl Guides have very different ambitions.

A survey of 1,000 Guides has revealed they now want to learn how to manage debts, reduce their carbon footprint - and practise safe sex.

Less inspiring but nevertheless extremely useful, they are also keen to learn how to assemble flat-pack furniture.

Scroll down for more...

There is no guarantee such concerns will completely replace more traditional pursuits. But Girlguiding UK said it would act on the findings in a bid to keep itself relevant to the lives of modern women.

The poll revealed interesting differences in priorities for Guides of different ages.

Senior Guides, aged over 16, ranked managing money the most important skill to have before they leave the family home.

Knowing about safe sex came in fourth, and "assembling flat-pack furniture" in eighth.

By contrast younger Guides, aged 10 to 15, ranked more traditional pursuits highly and put "cooking a healthy meal" and "pitching a tent" in joint first.

The youngest guides, aged 10 and under, said they most wanted to know how to cross the road and surf the internet safely.

They also rated caring for a pet and basic first aid, such as cleaning a cut or graze, high up the list of priorities.

Scroll down for more...

Liz Burnley, the Chief Guide, said the findings would shape future policy.

She said: "As the UK's largest youth organisation just for girls and young women, we prioritise giving the girls the skills, experiences and opportunities they need to reach for new aspirations and succeed in the modern world.

"But these goalposts don't stand still, which is why we constantly ask out members what they think, so to that we can continue to be truly relevant to tomorrow's young women."

Guiding has undergone a number of revamps since the days when girls were awarded badges for repairing saucepans, cleaning and milking cows.

Nowadays, badges are given for learning business skills and making speeches in public.

Jess Bond, 19, a Guide from Pontypool in South Wales, said: "It is interesting that managing money emerged as one of the most important skills for my age group.

"I suppose it reflects the fact that at this stage many of us are about to leave home and know we need to take responsibility for our finances for the first time, but are aware of the dangers of loans, top-up fees and credit card debts."

She added that learning about flat-pack furniture might seem dull but explained "we all need furniture".

There are 500,000 girls in the Guiding movement with a waiting list of 50,000.

The number of Guides has remained the same even after Scouts began accepting girls.